


Krabat - The Movie That Could Have Been

by Black_Zora



Category: Krabat | The Satanic Mill - Otfried Preußler
Genre: Book versus Movie, Deleted Scenes, Gen, Meta, movie analysis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-02
Updated: 2016-11-02
Packaged: 2018-08-28 15:12:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8451313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Black_Zora/pseuds/Black_Zora
Summary: This is my analysis of Kreuzpaintner's Krabat movie, including the deleted scenes, the director's commentary and other additional material. I try to reconstruct what the original story arc looked liked, and also focus on the differences between the movie and the book. Everyone who wants to take part in  the discussion is very welcome!





	1. Introduction

.

Initially, I have to say that I actually watched the movie before I read the book. So I was in no way biased against Marco Kreuzpaintner's work. In fact, I really liked the movie when I first watched it, and it motivated me to read both the book and a couple of fanfictions, and then to go on to write my own.

That said, after reading the book, I was a bit confused about the changes they made for the movie. Then I read somewhere that there were twenty-three deleted scenes – almost forty minutes of film in total –, and I thought, oh well, maybe they just cut some of the good stuff. So I went on to buy the Special Edition DVD, with deleted scenes, director's commentary, making of, and such. However, watching it only confused me more …


	2. Original Version Versus Final Cut

.

So why am I confused? Mainly because, for the movie, they made some rather profound changes to both story and characters. This becomes even more evident when taking the deleted scenes into account. Kreuzpaintner and his team altered whole story arcs, then cut most of it out again. No wonder the residues left in the final product sometimes make little sense.

One grave change is that they left out an entire year – the book tells three years at the mill, the movie only two. In consequence, they had to condense the action, and only one of the journeymen died – Tonda. But instead of then focusing on Michal, who, in the book, becomes Krabat's friend and adviser after Tonda's death, and building up what should have been his impending doom, they make his cousin Merten the one Krabat confides in, and also the one who would be next on the list. What's left in the movie only hints at Merten being the next one to be sacrificed, but in the deleted scenes, this is a whole new story arc, starting on Krabat's second Easter and culminating in Merten having to unload his own coffin from the Goodman's carriage near the end of the year.

Another arc shows much more interaction between Krabat and Lyschko. They go from aggressive antagonism – mostly from Lyschko towards Krabat – to an outspoken peace offering from Krabat that is accepted by Lyschko, to what seems to be a genuine effort from Lyschko to befriend Krabat (if not for entirely selfless reasons), which is turned down by Krabat in the end. All of this gives the ending, where Lyschko is the messenger who brings the ring to the Kantorka and also swears the journeymen to fealty, a distinct spin.

In addition, they made up an antagonism between a group Kreuzpaintner explicitly calls evil in the director's commentary, consisting of Lyschko, Hanzo, Andrusch and Staschko, and the rest of the mill hands. Kreuzpaintner and his main cameraman even go so far as to speak of Hanzo's “evil regime” as senior journeyman.


	3. Krabat-Lyschko Arc

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There are six scenes in total that deal with Lyschko, and most of them concern his relationship to Krabat.

.

**1\. Freeing the wheel from ice.**

The first deleted scene dealing with Krabat and Lyschko is an extended version of one still in the movie, where the journeymen free the mill wheel from ice. It starts with all of the mill hands being busy in the court, shoveling snow, while Lyschko is strolling about without doing anything in particular, watching the others working. The director's commentary tells us that there's a rivalry between Tonda and Lyschko. That's why we see them clash several times, with Lyschko constantly calling the senior journeyman's authority into question – starting with this scene.

We see Staschko throw a snowball at Hanzo, who protests only half-heartedly. Krabat, who seems to have been feeding the pigs, steps up to Michal and Merten. He mixes up their names and Merten corrects him in an amicable way. Krabat asks where to put the bucket he's carrying, and Michal, instead of telling him, just takes it from him, smiling, and puts it away himself.

Tonda orders Lyschko to take the other mill hands with him and free the wheel and the mill race from ice. Lyschko replies that he has no use for Krabat. Tonda shoots back, “Where he works, I decide.” For an answer, Lyschko spits in front of Krabat. (That part we know from the final cut.)

They all stroll off towards the mill wheel. Lyschko says someone has to go down to work under it. He grins at Krabat and asks, “Krabat?” It's not an order, but clearly a challenge. He doesn't say it in a particularly mean tone though, and Krabat, after a little hesitation, replies, “I'll do it.” Lyschko, still grinning broadly, comments, “Have fun!”

However, Hanzo steps in, saying, “I'll do it. I have experience.”

Yet Michal, even though Hanzo just volunteered, tells Krabat to leave the job to Lyschko and to watch closely, so that, next time, he will know how it is to be done. Lyschko doesn't seem happy, but goes down under the wheel without a word – even though Michal shouldn't hold any authority over him. Michal then announces he and Merten will go up and work in the mill race. Andrusch tells Krabat to climb the ladder they brought and help free the top of the wheel from ice.

Afterward follows the dialogue we know from the movie, between Lyschko, Michal and Andrusch.

The next part got deleted. While working, Krabat gets distracted by Hanzo, who asks him about his age. Krabat says he's almost sixteen, which is odd, considering that both the movie intro and the book tell us he's fourteen, but maybe he makes himself older to be taken more seriously by the journeymen. Inattentive, he lets go of the pointed iron rod he used to hack the ice loose. It falls down and hits Lyschko's hand. Lyschko cries out several times, then looks up from under the wheel with a grimace of pain and fury. He's not playacting, his hand is bleeding profusely. Krabat is horrified by what he has done, says that he's sorry and hastily climbs down to check on Lyschko. Andrusch, however, warns him that he'd better get out of Lyschko's reach, and fast.

Lyschko climbs out from under the wheel, iron rod in hand. He hits Krabat with it, hard, once across the side, once across the stomach, while Krabat puts up his hands, trying to both avoid the blows and to shield himself. Neither Andrusch nor Hanzo interfere. We also don't hear any comment from Michal or Merten.

Then Tonda comes running, shouting at Lyschko to give the rod back to Krabat. Lyschko hisses, “Look what the idiot has done!”, and shows his bleeding hand. He appears to be almost crying. Still, Tonda replies, “I won't tell you again, Lyschko!” In answer, Lyschko throws the rod as far as he can. Tonda, however, makes it fly back into his own hand by means of magic. Krabat asks, astounded, “How did you do that?”, but gets no reply.

Tonda then orders them to shake hands. Krabat, after some hesitation, warily offers his hand to Lyschko, who shakes his head, then takes Krabat's hand and lets go of it extremely and demonstratively quickly. The scene ends.

**2\. Stick fight.**

This scene is an extension of the one in the final version, where it ends after Lyschko disarms Krabat.

Originally, it continued like this: When Krabats runs to fetch his stick, Lyschko shows his most charming smile, practically glowing with pride and happiness – and it's directed at the Master, who had been watching the fight all along, although we haven't seen him before. However, the Master's face stays impassive. So maybe that's why Lyschko decides to up the ante and makes himself invisible. When Krabats returns with his stick, he looks around for Lyschko, confused, then realizes Lyschko is circling him, invisible. He tries to defend himself, but without seeing Lyschko, he has no chance, and is send flying through the fence and into the mill brook.

If Lyschko did this by using the stick non-magically, like in the former fight, it must have been a vicious blow. If he used magic, being thrown through the fence and landing after a flight of approximately four meters, bouncing and tumbling into the water, must still have hurt. Yet, everyone apart from Krabat seems to think this hilarious – Tonda and Juro included, who laugh out loud, then smile at each other. (This part reminds me of the smile they share at the end of Krabat's first working day, when he falls asleep at supper. Little hints like this show how close Tonda and Juro are.)

Lyschko becomes visible for a second, grins broadly, then vanishes again. End of scene.

**3\. Attack on Schwarzkollm.**

Then there's the fight with the soldiers at Schwarzkollm. They cut out a very brief scene where Lyschko makes himself invisible once again – out of cowardice, Kreuzpaintner comments. So that's why we don't see him fight, but he promptly reappears once the soldiers are defeated.

**4\. Peace offering on Twelfth Night.**

After the ravens fly out to fetch Lobosch on Twelfth Night, there was an extended interaction between Krabat and Lyschko. In the original version of the movie, this would actually have been Krabat's very first flight, directly linked to his promotion to journeyman. I explain in detail in chapter six, Other Deleted Scenes, scene three and four.

Krabat sheds his hood and turns to Michal and Merten, beaming. “When the wind sings under the wings … When I'm up there, I can forget everything. Merten, now I understand all your secrecy.”

Both Michal and Merten smile at him understandingly. But Lyschko comments, “Don't forget to gasp for air …” Hanzo laughs and says, “True indeed.”

Krabat turns to Lyschko, looks at him – and offers his hand, with the words, “Lyschko – peace?”

Both Lyschko and Hanzo seem surprised. Then Lyschko starts smiling a rather dubious smile, answers, “I never denied a good deal.”, and takes Krabat's hand to shake it. At this very moment, the Master enters the chamber. He looks approvingly at Krabat and Lyschko, smiles, and says, “Die Mühle – nun mahlt sie wieder.” – “The Mill is working again.”

The last tiny part is in the final cut, but the exchange between Krabat and Lyschko is not.

**5\. Dresden.**

The Dresden scene … Most of it, they never filmed, since they neither had the time nor the money for the extended CGI it would have demanded. So the flight in the carriage is only very roughly animated, and the ball at the Prince Elector's court is missing completely – but they gave us the dialogue, at least.

The first part shows that there was also something like a Lobosch arc. At the beginning, Krabat and Lobosch are fetching wood. The ensuing talk proves Movie-Lobosch is far less okay with having been deserted by Krabat when they were still begging together than Book-Lobosch is. Lobosch is almost crying when he asks Krabat why he got left behind. Before Krabat can answer, however, Lyschko appears, whistling on his fingers – soundlessly, so it seems this isn't one of Robert Stadlober's talents – and tells them to get the horses ready, for the Master wants to go on a journey.

Then we see Lyschko and the Master. The Master is in traveling gear, with hat and coat, while Lyschko is carrying both his sheathed sword and a lantern, hurrying to keep up. The Master says, “I need someone to accompany me.”, and Lyschko replies, “I'm delighted to.” – “Das mach' ich gern.”

Next, we see not only Krabat and Lobosch, but also Merten standing beside the carriage and the horses. The Miller mounts. Lyschko is clearly expecting to go with him, but the Master asks, “Krabat, would you like to steer the horses?” Lyschko looks shocked. “Where to?”, Krabat inquires, and the Master answers, “To Dresden. But we have to be there in one hour.”

Then, the Master orders, “Lyschko, give him your coat. I want Krabat to accompany me.” The disbelief on Lyschko's face is memorable – in a painful way. Although he appears to be devastated, he immediately shrugs out of his coat and hands it to Krabat, without even looking at him. Krabat, however, _does_ look at Lyschko. He actually seems to be worried about him.

The Master tells Krabat, “We'll do something for your dead mother today.”

Merten helps Krabat into Lyschko's coat, taking the opportunity to whisper, “Don't go with him.” Krabat appears to be confused. Lyschko throws the both of them a pained look. He almost seems about to cry. The Master puts his foot down, literally and with a bang, and asks sharply, “Krabat, what's the matter?!” Merten whispers, “Don't trust him!”

Krabat climbs onto the carriage anyway, and throws an almost pitying glance at Lyschko, who's once again avoiding everyone's eyes.

Then Krabat and the Master drive off, and while Merten has already turned to go back inside, Lobosch and Lyschko are still standing in the courtyard, looking after the carriage – Lyschko with an expression of desolation on his face.

The next part is only roughly animated. The Master asks Krabat to drive faster. Krabat is worried they might have an accident if he does, so the Master magically switches places with him. They enter fog. Suddenly, Krabat realizes that it's actually clouds, and that they have just passed the spire of the church-tower of Kamenz.

They arrive at Dresden, and then we have only the storyline, without any pictures. At a masquerade, Krabat is introduced to the Prince Elector, who asks him respectfully for advice where his war efforts are concerned. Should he go against the Swedes or not? Krabat says he should. (This will become important in another deleted scene.) When they leave Dresden, the Master offers Krabat his freedom, but Krabat replies that he wants to stay with him.

After that, we see the actors again, up in the attic. Krabat is sitting with the “evil group”, as Kreuzpaintner comments, consisting of Hanzo, Andrusch, Staschko and Lyschko. The journeymen, apart from Krabat, are all in their nightshirts. Krabat is sitting on Juro's bed, with Hanzo lounging beside him. Krabat is telling the four of them – and everyone else, since they're all listening – about the masquerade, where people were costumed as animals, amongst them an elephant and a cow, which prompts Andrusch to joke about udders. Lyschko is standing next to Krabat, leaning against a support beam, his coat in his hands. Krabat compliments the food at court, and Hanzo in turn insults Juro's cooking. Juro, who is sitting a little apart, but next to them and listening just as well, looks hurt.

Krabat is quite evidently having a good time with the “evil group”. But then, Merten, who plays dices with Michal and Lobosch on the lower part of the attic, both him and his cousin lying on their cots as they do so, asks Krabat, “Who do you want to impress?”

Krabats appears to be annoyed. Lyschko, with a serious expression on his face and a look in Merten's direction, says to him, “Come.”, touching Krabat's shoulder as he does so. Krabat seems a tad befuddled, but gets up and over to Lyschko's cot all the same. Lyschko sits down, and Krabat calls to Merten, “You're just jealous, entangled in your dream-world … The Master did me a service, that's all.” – to the approval of the “evil group”.

Lyschko looks up at Krabat and asks him, beaming, “What else have you seen?”, with an almost painful eagerness. He seems like an over-exited puppy, and this time, he clearly _is_ playacting – he has to make an effort to appear to be happy for Krabat.

But Krabat doesn't seem to notice. He smiles at Lyschko, sits down next to him and makes as if to continue with his story. But then, clearly fed up with everyone but those who showed appreciation for his adventures so far – the “evil ones” – he shouts at Petar, who has been watching him with a bemused look on his face, “What are you moping for?!” Petar (who's portrayed as really stupid in the movie) answers, “For nothing … I was just asking myself: What does an elephant eat …?”, provoking laughter from the “evil ones”.

Lyschko puts his hand on Krabat's arm, saying passionately, “Come on, tell me. I want to hear everything.” Krabat smiles at him. End of scene.

**6\. The pretty girls of Schwarzkollm.**

The scene starts with Lyschko, who's looking from the outside through one of the kitchen windows.

Krabat steps into the kitchen with the ring of hair in his hand, calling for Juro. Lyschko, who must have entered the house off screen, steps out of the shadows, greeting him, “Krabat …”

Krabat is clearly taken aback. He picks something up as an excuse for visiting the kitchen, then turns to leave. However, Lyschko stops him with the following words: “There's something on your mind.” Now Krabat is looking worried.

Lyschko continues, “I once saw someone who was in love. He acted almost like you.”

Krabat puts down whatever he just picked up. Lyschko takes several steps towards him, and adds, “There are pretty girls in Schwarzkollm …”

Krabat inquires, “You have experience …?”

Lyschko smiles a beautiful and dubious smile that tells many things (and I, personally, can't see, “I have experience with girls” amongst them). Krabat continues, “Then why don't you take me to one …? We'll have a really good evening, you and I.”

Krabat pats Lyschko's shoulder in a seemingly companionable way, but Lyschko's expression shows he has already realized something isn't right, or rather, not going according to plan. And then, Krabat says, scathingly, “You can go to hell, Lyschko.” (“Du kannst mir gestohlen bleiben, Lyschko.”, which is less fierce, but I didn't find a translation more fitting.)

Krabat turns and leaves. Once again, Lyschko is standing alone, looking after someone with a distraught look on his face. End of scene.

(As far as I am concerned, especially when taking the end of the movie into account, I don't think Lyschko was trying to learn the name of the Kantorka in order to betray Krabat, or anything like that. It looked more like … I don't know, but to me, it looked like he was actually trying to flirt with Krabat.)

.

So what do we gain from the deleted Krabat-Lyschko arc? Quite a lot, actually.

The way things go in the final cut, Lyschko seems to act mainly out of selfishness. Since he listened in on the argument between Krabat and the Master, he knows the Master doesn't value him, Lyschko, at all, to a degree where the Miller actually put him on the chopping block. This time, Krabat saved him, but next year, it could well be Lyschko who has to die. This motivates Lyschko to take a high risk, to take the ring and bring it to the Kantorka, and to also bring the other journeymen to heel to prevent any interference from their side. I think this only works because of the changed character they gave Lyschko for the movie – no one would have listened to Book-Lyschko had he told them to trust in Krabat and not try and betray him. Then again, the journeymen as portrayed in the book probably would not have betrayed Krabat anyway, not even if it had gained them their life and freedom. Lyschko might have felt somewhat grateful to Krabat for denying to sacrifice him. But Krabat still said he couldn't stand him, so there's no love lost on Krabat's side where Lyschko is concerned.

However, when taking the deleted scenes into account, there might be different motivations in play. Towards the end of the movie, Lyschko has realized Krabat isn't half as bad as he initially thought, when he saw him mostly as competition for the Master's attention and, quite possibly, love. Krabat had shifted somewhat towards Lyschko's group, and towards the Master as well. On Twelfth Night, he had made a peace offering to Lyschko, which Lyschko had accepted. There had been friendly interaction between the two of them, and between Krabat, Hanzo, Andrusch and Staschko as well – see Dresden scene. The two of them might have developed genuine concern for each other – visible at the beginning of the Dresden scene from Krabat to Lyschko, and in the scene where they talk about the pretty girls of Schwarzkollm from Lyschko to Krabat. Krabat did turn Lyschko down in that scene, but he then went on to defend his, Lyschko's, life against the Master, knowing fully well that he would have to pay with his own for it (and for other things as well).

In my eyes, this gives Lyschko's actions at the end of the movie a distinct spin. Notably, I can see unrequited Lyschko/Krabat in them, and I don't even have to try hard or blink for it. At least I see a failed attempt from Lyschko to win Krabat as a friend, and his playing the saving angel for all of them might just be Lyschko upping the ante again, as we have seen him do several times, to still try and finally succeed in this endeavor.

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If you're interested, you can see part of the deleted Lyschko-Krabat scenes in a beautiful fan-made video titled “Amaranth” by gewitterziege, which can be found on youtube:

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vav2nWgbHp0>

00:32 to 00:38 is from scene 1, 00:38 to 00:46 is from a deleted scene showing the last day of the year, with everyone waiting for Tonda's death, 01:15 to 01:32 is from a scene where Merten tells Krabat about Pumphutt, 01:58 to 02:13 is from scene 4, 02:14 to 03:22 is from the Dresden scene, 03:23 to 04:00 is from scene 6, and 04:01 to 04:15 is, once again, from the Dresden scene.

Thank you, gewitterziege, for making this wonderfully poetic video – I've watched it countless times already! :D


	4. Merten Arc

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Before I go any further, I have to emphasize that I have a lot of respect for Moritz Grove's portrayal of Merten. It's intense, it's harrowing, and it left a lasting impression with me. He did an outstanding job, even amongst a cast that did great as a whole. I believe his Merten, he's realistic and likable. What follows is in no way meant to criticize the superb work Moritz Grove did with his character.

So what happened to Merten in the movie?

Visually, he looks much different from the description in the book. There, Merten is bearlike and immensely strong – much like Michal, who, as an aside, isn't troubled by any back pains in that version of the story. Movie-Merten looks kind of frail to me from the get-go, even though he appears to be entirely capable of the hard work the mill demands – until he collapses because of the Master and the Goodman.

His character also gets changed, maybe more profoundly than anyone else's. In the book, he's coping well with life on the mill while he still has Michal by his side. In contrast to that, in the movie, he seems sad and resigned right from the start, and the original version had him slowly but inevitably turn into a nervous wreck. We see part of this in the final cut, but the original story arc actually had him break down as early as Easter of Krabat's second – and, in the movie, last – year, after Michal told him he'd had a prophetic dream about Merten being next to die.

There are several Merten-scenes that got cut.

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**1\. Deceitful trickery.**

This scene is an extension of the one shortly after Krabat's first Easter on the mill, where we see them getting the oxen ready. Krabat, secretively but proudly, uploads a wooden beam onto the cart by means of magic. Merten, in passing, takes him by the shoulder and tells him silently to not be too impressed by this kind of “deceitful trickery”.

In the background, we see Tonda, who looks troubled, likely because he didn't want Krabat to join the brotherhood and be trapped on the mill as a result. Both Michal and Krabat notice his subdued mood.

**2\. Pumphutt.**

In this scene, Merten tells Krabat about Pumphutt. In the final cut, we only have that short moment between the two of them where they play with a spinning toy, but that was actually the intro to a Pumphutt-storytelling-scene – the guy painted on the toy is supposed to be him. Merten tells Krabat that Pumphutt is out to punish the bad masters. However, Merten only does so after sending a pointed look at Lyschko, who was listening in on them, and makes then quite a show of leaving out of earshot.

With Pumphutt, it becomes clear that the movie makers really didn't pay attention to the book, at times. Kreuzpaintner says they cut the scene because Pumphutt made “no sense”. He is of the opinion that Pumphutt learned his craft on the mill in the Koselbruch, under the current Master, and then left, only to return several years later, defeat the Master in a wizard's duel, and then leave again. So if Pumphutt was able to leave, asks the director, why aren't the others? And if he won a duel against the Master, why, so far, hasn't any other of his journeymen? Only that Pumphutt never learned at this particular mill and under this particular Master, and that he dueled the Miller for reasons of “Mühlenrecht und Zunftgebrauch”, not because he wanted to free himself and the journeymen or become the next Master of the mill. The book makes all of this very clear. So, sorry Mr Kreuzpaintner, but it's really embarrassing to hear your blatant misinterpretation in the director's commentary.

**3\. How the time flies.**

In this scene, Merten informs Krabat that he counted the days for a year and found that there were only 122, meaning time flies three times faster on the mill. However, the book states this holds true only for the first year – it's solely the current apprentice who gets three years older in his one year of apprenticeship. There's a logical reason behind this: apprenticeship usually lasted three years. In consequence, for the fast transition from apprentice to journeyman Preußler needed, the first year had to “count for three“.

The direct result of Merten telling Krabat about how the time flies, and about other unpleasant facts like that they are all trapped, and that, every year, one of them gets killed to keep the Master alive and agile, is Krabat trying to run away. (And, incidentally, him leaving Lobosch, who just arrived at the mill that very day, to fend for himself in a potentially life-threatening situation for the second time). So, while in the book, his confidante Michal encourages Krabat to accept life on the mill, for instance, to not talk about the dead, in the movie, his confidante Merten does the exact opposite.

**4\. Krabat's second Easter.**

On Krabat's second Easter, the atmosphere is pretty aggressive. Andrusch keeps throwing sacks onto everyone's backs, which is unwise, since those weighed up to a hundred kilogram each, in Krabat's time. When Lobosch collapses, he still throws two more sacks at him, laughing as if he's having the time of his life. (This part is reminiscent of Lyschko's exhilaration when Merten breaks down during new moon's night, later on in the movie.)

Michal looks very troubled as he trudges towards the grinding room with a sack on his back. Suddenly, Merten completely loses it. He shouts at Michal, who seems to be crying, “No! There was nothing! There was nothing! Stop it!”, grabbing and shaking him. Hanzo bellows at them to continue working, for “this night won't last forever!”, but still seems to be disquieted by their behavior. Merten pushes Juro aside when he comes over to ask worriedly, “Whatever is the matter with you?!”

Everyone else is in a bad mood, too. Staschko is repairing some part of the mill mechanism (Petar has the best job of the night, holding a torch for him), and when Andrusch asks, “Is it working again?”, Staschko shouts at him, “Shut your trap!” Andrusch, in turn, insults him just as well. Lobosch breaks down again, this time in the grinding room. Lyschko yells at him, “Get up, damn it!” Kito is busy filling flour into sacks. Kubo is nowhere in sight, but when Kito looks around the corner, we see him playing with his hamster. Kito frantically gestures him back to work.

Unlike to Krabat's first Easter on the mill, there doesn't seem to be any cheering and partying once everyone has sweated off the pentagram. Instead, we see Merten lying on his cot, mumbling to himself with closed eyes and an almost insane smile upon his lips, “I'm next. I'm next.“, while Michal, Krabat, Juro and Lobosch are worrying about him. Krabat asks, “What does he mean?” Michal takes him aside to tell him that he had a prophetic dream, one he's had every year since he came to the mill. It shows him the Koraktor, and in it, the names of all the dead journeymen. This time, Merten's name was last on the list. Thus far, Michal's premonitions have never been wrong – and he's been on the mill for more than twelve years, as Merten tells us in scene three.

They used part of scene four in the final cut, where they inserted it after the Master whipped Merten at new moon's night. (As an aside, it's Michal who gets whipped in the book, and not for looking at the Goodman, but for breaking ranks to try and help the apprentice, and also for breaking the sacred silence of their work. It's important to note that this happens after Michal, on Witko's behalf, repeatedly called the Master's decisions and authority into question.)

**5\. Meet the Goodman.**

Near the end of the year, we see Merten out in the courtyard, at night and in the snow, unloading his own coffin from the Goodman's carriage. His face mirrors his despair. Krabat, Michal and what seems to be Lobosch watch on through a crevice in the roof. Suddenly, the Goodman looks up and meets Krabat's eyes, indicating that it's in fact Krabat he expects to soon lie in the coffin, not Merten.

Merten unloading his coffin poses the question why the Master did this job where Tonda was concerned. Was it common practice that the one about to die also had to meet with the Goodman, alone and face to face, to unload his own coffin from his carriage? Merten hadn't done anything to earn him this horrible job as punishment. So I guess it _was_ common practice, and the Master taking care of Tonda's coffin – while Tonda watches on from the attic – was an exception. Maybe the Master did it out of respect? I got the impression that he _did_ respect his senior journeyman, and, interestingly enough, especially from the situations where the both of them clashed. For instance, when he hit Tonda for leaving work without permission, the Master immediately offered him his hand afterward to help him get up again.

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So the original Merten arc, from the scenes left in the movie as well as the ones I have described here and in the Krabat-Lyschko arc, would have been:

Merten is established as friendly towards Krabat at one of the first scenes on the mill, and he's warning him very early on to not to fall for the deceptive charm of magic. While Tonda is still alive, Merten tells Krabat about Pumphutt. Right at the start of Krabat's second year, he informs him about them being imprisoned at the mill, and of it being essentially a death trap. In February (Schneeglöckchen …), he tries to stop Krabat from going to Dresden, warning him not to trust the Miller. On Krabat's return, he demonstrates in front of everyone that he's not impressed by his adventures at court – and even less with his falling for the Master's deceitful charm.

Merten has a mental breakdown on Krabat's second Easter, after Michal dreamed about his name in the Koraktor and told him about it. As a result, Merten falls ill with a fever. Later on in the year, he meets the Goodman's gaze during new moon's work – at a point in time where he has been chosen to be the next victim, and knows it. He breaks down, and the Master whips him cruelly for it. This whipping seems even harsher when taking into account that the Master knows – and is responsible for – that Merten is about to die, and that he broke down because he had been confronted about it by the Goodman. As a result, Merten falls ill again. A couple of days before New Year's Eve, he's out in the snow at night, unloading his coffin from the Goodman's carriage. Then he tries to hang himself on the last day of the year, before the Goodman can come and fetch him. But he's cut down and ridiculed by the Master, and, later that night, finally saved by Krabat and the Kantorka.

Wow. That's quite a lot they piled on Merten.

By the way, only the deleted scenes made me realize that Merten actually tries to hang himself on the last day of the year, when he already knows he's about to die the following night anyway. So his attempt at suicide becomes even more of an act of defiance than it was in the book. In the movie, he's not trying to escape from the mill by killing himself, but making a point that he has the right to decide when and how he is to die. Or maybe he's just insanely scared of dying by the hand of the Goodman. Tonda's death seemed brutal in the movie, much more so than in the book. Merten might simply have preferred a scenario he himself could control. He also doesn't seem to be that affected by his suicide attempt – bodily, that is. In the book, he had difficulty breathing for days, and was ill and unable to get up for about two months. In the movie, he joins the others in the Black Chamber only hours after trying to hang himself. Yet, they still have to put him on a cart when they flee the mill a short time later.

Since they completely cut Krabat's third year, or rather tried to morph it with his second, the above-mentioned apprentice of year three, Witko, doesn't appear in the movie. I've got the suspicion that Movie-Merten might actually be a pastiche of Book-Merten and Witko.

In the original version of the movie, Merten practically embodies the gruesomeness of the workings of the mill. I actually regret that they cut most of his tale. I think it would have added to the story, even though it deviates far from the book.


	5. Tonda Arc

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There are four deleted scenes that deal with Tonda and his fate.

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**1\. Cleaning the flour chamber.**

We see Krabat fight to clean the chamber. Tonda arrives, watches him for a moment and tells him, “Krabat … Leave it be.” (“Lass gut sein.”) Krabat stubbornly keeps trying. Tonda orders him with emphasis, “You go feed the livestock now!” Krabat leaves the chamber, looking downcast. Tonda comforts him, “No one fares better in the beginning.”

Krabat turns to leave for the stables. In the background, Tonda enters the chamber, broom in hand. When he steps out again, a cloud of flour blows over the courtyard. Krabat turns back, amazed.

Tonda seems a little worried as Krabat reenters the chamber. He stands aside and watches him. The chamber is, of course, scrupulously clean. Krabat asks, “How did you do that?” Tonda takes him by the arm, gestures at the broom, replies, “With this.”, and leads Krabat, who has a look of disbelief on his face, out of the flour chamber.

**2\. Tonda's knife turns black.**

This scene is an extension of the one in the forest where they fetch wood with the oxen.

While Krabat, Tonda, Kubo and Andrusch are guiding the oxen cart through the forest, Krabat's eyes fall on a huge accumulation of mushrooms. He immediately turns towards them, delighted, and declares that he wants to give them to Juro. In doing so, he gets dangerously close to where Tonda hides flour for the villagers. Tonda, a nervous look on his face, calls him over to another place, because, “There are more of them over here.” (Frankly, if I ever met with that many mushrooms of the Boletus edulis variety, I'd be at least as ecstatic as Krabat …)

They both squat beside the mushrooms. Tonda proceeds to offer his knife to Krabat, but as Tonda snaps it halfway open, the blade turns black – or it would have, once it had been CGIed thus. Tonda not only stumbles, but practically falls backwards, with a look of horror on his face. Krabat is disquieted, of course, and asks him what's wrong. Tonda replies, “Nothing.”, and gets up again, but has to steady himself on a rock to manage. Krabat looks very alarmed now. Consequentially, Tonda tells him, “Don't look that worried. I'm alright.”

Krabat doesn't seem convinced. He takes the knife from out of Tonda's hand, snaps the blade open completely and asks, “Wasn't the blade black a moment ago?” Tonda replies, “No. Definitely not.”, with a smile that is supposed to be reassuring, but lets his desperation shine through. He looks weary and defeated. Then he gets up, supposedly to go back to the cart, while Krabat watches on, still troubled. End of scene.

The talk we know from the final cut, where Tonda warns Krabat to never share the name of his girl, follows shortly after.

**3\. Tonda's goodbye.**

This scene shows us first the night before the last day of the year, then said last day (or afternoon, or night – I'll come to that later). It does a lot for the characterization of everyone, especially the minor roles. It's also completely heart-wrenching. Kreuzpaintner comments that, in retrospect, he thinks they shouldn't have cut it, and I completely agree. It's only two minutes, but it conveys much.

The scene starts with what we know from the final version of the movie, with Tonda whispering to an irritated Krabat, “I'll always stay your friend.” Tonda pulls his blanket up, while Krabat watches him, a troubled look on his face. (The way this snipped is used in the deleted scenes, the exchange takes place the night before the last day of the year. However, the way the complete scene, the talk about providing flour for the villagers included, is used in the final cut, it might take place days before New Year's.)

The next part, I think, is meant to show the last day of the year – or maybe the last night? At first, I thought it was a “day for night” shot, but one fact – apart from the sunshine filtering in through the roof – convinced me otherwise: while everyone else is in their night clothes, Krabat, Juro, Lyschko and Hanzo are not. I think those four bothered to properly dress for the following reasons: one, Krabat doesn't know they'll just be lying and sitting around, waiting (though if they do, that would be a deviation from the book, where they all work on that day, the condemned included), two, Juro always has to do house chores, no matter what day it is, three, Lyschko knows that he will be called upon, or maybe has been called upon already, to help the Master leave the mill, and four, the same holds true for Hanzo. (Aquila, I had it wrong before, when we talked about the scene where Lyschko tries to put a blanket over the Master's lap when he readies to leave the mill in his sledge: it's Hanzo who assists him, not Kubo.)

Yet, there are some candles and oil-lamps burning, although not even half of the ones we see in the scene are alight, so I could be wrong about the time of day. The scene could also take place in the late afternoon – at that time of the year, dusk falls at about four o'clock, in Germany. So that might explain why most of them are undressed – there's no work left to be done, and they always go to bed early on New Year's Eve –, but not asleep yet, even though they have the option of spelling themselves to sleep. Or maybe it is already nighttime, but they don't want to leave Tonda all by himself.

By now, everyone but Krabat knows Tonda is about to die that night. The journeymen are sitting or lying on their cots, almost all of them in their nightshirts, willing the time to pass, and at the same time dreading it.

So what does everyone do, while awaiting the death of one from their midst?

First, the camera pans to Lyschko, who's squatting on his cot, fully clothed, playing with a candle flame. (Aside: I kept wondering about open fire in the attic. In the book, they use lanterns, which seems more sensible to me.) He appears to be sad as his gaze wanders secretively in Tonda's direction. The camera also roams over his coat, which hangs at the foot-end of his cot.

Next is Andrusch, lying on his cot, with his feet dangling in a way that they touch the ground – and there's a burning candle between them that makes me itchy. (I suppose the movie makers put it there because they wanted to work with natural light – a lot of the night and indoor scenes were illuminated by candles, torches, and other kinds of open fire solely –, but I'm worried for all of them, and for Andrusch's feet in particular.) Andrusch is in his nightshirt, but with his hat on. He's playing with a mobile made of stones that's hanging over his cot. He's always wearing a stone on his necklace, too. This seems highly symbolical to me – Andrusch wearing a stone around his neck, having stones pending over his sleeping space … He's looking pensive and downcast.

Then follows Staschko. He's in his nightshirt and lying on his cot as well. At first, he appears to be asleep, but then we see that his eyes are open. He's sucking or chewing on a corner of his sleeve or sheet, and is halfway towards a fetal position. Just like Andrusch, he hasn't bothered to pull a blanket over himself. (I wonder about this … Later in the night, it's snowing, and the following morning, they're all under their blankets and still literally blue with the cold. Is it a continuity error or are they deliberately freezing to punish themselves, because they will survive this night while Tonda will not?)

After Staschko, we see Juro, sitting on his cot. He's fully clothed. Maybe he just finished his daily duties in the house, or still has to complete some of them. As he comes into view, he first has his eyes open, but with his focus turned inward. Then he closes them and leans back, his face sliding out of view. I think he's actually starting to cry, but with the dim lighting, I cannot be sure.

Then the camera shows us an overview of the lower part of the attic, as well as of the opposing upper part. Down below, Krabat is sitting on his cot, fully clothed. The same goes for Hanzo. We also see Michal, lying on his cot, apparently with his jacket on, but under a blanket, so he might just be cold and not dressed to go anywhere. He's looking up, maybe at Juro.

Then we see Kito, who's lying on his cot as well, on his belly, also looking in the direction of the opposite upper part of the attic, watching someone.

Next is a close-up of Merten, turning restlessly on his cot. He has pulled a blanket over himself, and there's a look of despair on his face. He also seems to be looking at someone, but on the lower level of the room, so it's likely Tonda he's watching.

After Merten, the camera focuses on Michal, who's obviously watching the same someone now, aggrieved. Then he turns his head to look almost shyly in the direction of Hanzo.

Hanzo is also watching said someone while fiddling with a piece of straw, or rather, an ear. He looks grave, and even though the director tells us elsewhere that Hanzo is a cold-hearted brute, he appears to have more of a heavy heart, here.

Next we see the one they're watching: it's Tonda, of course, face ashen and drawn, lying under a pile of blankets, stretched out on his back. Behind him, there's Krabat, watching him worriedly just as well. Tonda starts to sit up in bed. He touches his jacket that's lying across the blankets, then takes it up to fold it, slowly and meticulously. The look on his face is indescribably sad – a mix of regret, acceptance and tenderness. The camera changes to Krabat's perspective, and we see Tonda's bend back while he's folding his jacket in an affectionate way. His other clothes are hanging on a line beside his cot. Tonda then puts the jacket at the foot of his bed. In the background, we see Krabat again, troubled, not understanding what's happening and why. The camera focuses on him for a moment.

Without preamble, we are outside in the shed and see the cart with Tonda's coffin on it. With that, the scene ends. Next would be the one with Tonda in his nightshirt, sitting beside a sleeping Krabat, saying goodbye.

If, in contrast, the scene _is_ a day-for-night shot, who's dressed in working clothes and when might just be a continuity error. For there still is the scene where Tonda comes up to the attic, looking weary and defeated, and tells the journeymen that all work is done and they should go to bed now. He would have had to put his clothes he already said goodbye to back on for that. In the case of a day-for-night shot, the scene would be placed as follows: the Master leaves the mill, Krabat wants to decorate the tables and gets attacked for it, Tonda goes to dig his grave, Tonda enters the attic, saying all work is done, then sits with Krabat and tells him there's someone he can trust, followed by the above described “Tonda's goodbye” scene where everyone whiles the time away, unable or unwilling to sleep, and finally, Tonda sitting beside a sleeping Krabat's cot, wishing him a good transition from one year to the next.

**4\. The morning after Tonda's death.**

Another heart-wrenching scene that should totally have stayed in the movie, as Kreuzpaintner himself admits.

This four-minute-scene starts with Krabat going back to his cot and sitting down on it, after Michal has wrestled him away from the trapdoor. Krabat takes Tonda's knife into his hands, his breathing labored, his gaze first fixed on the trapdoor, then wandering to the window – there's a storm raging outside, with lightning illuminating the attic. Krabat lies back down with halting, wooden movements, clearly in a state of shock.

The screen turns black.

Then we see the following morning. Underscored by ominous music, the camera very slowly moves through all of the attic, showing us one journeyman after the other. That's the forte of this scene: we see absolutely everyone, and we also see how deeply affected they are by what has happened that night, by what is essentially the inner workings of the mill. One from their midst has just been turned into grist to be crushed by the stones, to keep the mill working, and they are, without exception, absolutely terrified by it.

First is Juro, huddled in fetal position under his blankets, his face red-blue from the cold, shivering and audibly gasping, his breath condensing into little clouds. The others are no better off, it must be freezing. (For the effect, they used perforated Überraschungseierkapseln with dry ice in them, which the actors had to keep in their mouths. Sorry, English speaking folks, I don't know how to explain Überraschungseier. Anyway, it's little plastic capsules, that's all you need to know, for now.)

Then follows Petar, lying on his back, snow on his blankets, staring in the direction of the roof, or maybe just into nothingness, with terror in his eyes.

Next is Kubo, on his back as well, arms crossed in front of his chest, stock-still. Kreuzpaintner comments that he almost looks to be dead already, too.

Then Kito, lying on his side, looking apathetic, or maybe as if he's completely exhausted after he cried his eyes out. His hands are balled into fists, before he grabs the blankets to pull them tighter around himself.

Hanzo is lying on his side, propped up on one elbow, very much awake and aware. He seems to be asserting how much damage the night has done to his fellows. He looks composed, but very earnest.

Then Michal, under blankets pulled up to his chin, his eyes first half-closed, then secretively wandering towards Hanzo, and after, looking openly at Merten.

At first, Merten appears to still be asleep, but then we see that his eyes are open. He's blinking rapidly, maybe blinking away tears. He seems very close to crying, at least.

Next is Krabat, Tonda's knife clutched in his hands, red-faced and shivering, a look of terror on his face. After a moment, he sits up in bed and looks up, towards Juro.

Juro, as if he felt his gaze, even though he lay with his back to Krabat, starts to move and sits up as well. Yet, he's not looking at Krabat, who still stares at him as if begging him for help, but at something below him.

Then the camera shows Tonda's empty cot, his blankets and clothes neatly folded. Krabat's gaze turns there as well.

Krabat makes as if to get up, Tonda's – folded – knife still in hand. But then he just pushes his legs over the edge of his cot and sits there, crouched in on himself.

Next, we see Staschko, peering over his blankets, halfway up into a sitting position. He seems to be watching Krabat, a sad and sympathetic look on his face.

Andrusch is lying on his side, hat on his head, wide awake and shaking. He then visibly pulls himself together to get up with a decisive movement, even though he's gulping and clearly dreads what's coming. Shivering all over, he haltingly moves towards the ladder, passing Lyschko on his way.

Lyschko, who's lying on his back, looks extremely subdued and almost unwilling to fully open his eyes. He still watches Andrusch as he passes, even turning on his cot to follow him with his eyes.

Michal now gets up, too. For a moment, his gaze turns to Krabat, before he moves towards the trapdoor. Merten doesn't even react to his getting up, lying motionless as a corpse. Krabat, in contrast, is watching his every movement, fear, dread and a hundred questions in his eyes. As Michal stops beside the trapdoor, Andrusch starts climbing down the ladder, and Hanzo gets up as well. Michal pulls the door open, looks at Krabat – and Krabat starts to cry, spasms shaking his body.

Hanzo is first on the stairs, and consequentially, first to see Tonda's corpse, even before the audience sees it. He freezes for a moment, with Krabat – knife still in hand – already behind him on the steps. Then he makes room to let Krabat pass, watching him intently as he does so, concern apparent on his face. Krabat sees Tonda lying in his blood – the audience shares this sight –, squeezes his eyes shut, turns away, and has to steady himself by clutching the trapdoor, crying.

In contrast to what Kreuzpaintner says about Hanzo and his evil personality, Hanzo, when taking in the sight of Tonda, has a look on his face I'd call both reverent and sad. (They actually filmed a scene that's not included in the deleted ones, where Hanzo just pushes past Krabat, Krabat asks him, “Don't you feel anything at all?”, and Hanzo answers, “Yes, I do – I'm cold.”, and thought it great, but cut it to focus more on Krabat's reaction. I can't tell you how glad I am that they threw it out.)

Then Michal squeezes gently past Krabat. Once again, we see the look of shock and sadness on Hanzo's face.

End of scene.

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So what do the cut Tonda scenes add? First, they show Tonda to be even gentler and also frailer than in the final version of the movie. They make Tonda's “Mehr, als du ahnst.”, “More than you suspect.”, his fear of dying, very distinct. In addition, they add to the characterization of the others, especially where the minor roles are concerned. They show a softer side to Hanzo, and to the other members of the “evil group” as well. And they make the terror of New Year's very real … Consequentially, I think it's a pity they were cut, particularly the ones dealing with Tonda's (approaching) death.


	6. Other Deleted Scenes

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**1\. Alternative beginning.**

It starts with an extended version of the scene where Krabat's mother dies, followed by an extended scene of the three kings.

First, there's a text similar to the voice-over we know from the final cut, informing us about the Thirty Years' War and the plague. We then get an overview of wood-covered mountains (clearly shot from a helicopter). Next, we see Krabat running through the woods. A raven is sitting on one of the trees. When Krabats steps out into the open, he sees his family's hut, a donkey-cart in front of it. It's a plague-cart, loaded with shrouded corpses. Shocked, Krabat enters the hut, where two masked plague helpers are busy stealing everything of any worth. Krabat's mother is lying on a bed, dying. Krabat calls out to her, but the men pull him away. Then we see the plague helpers load another shrouded corpse onto the cart, while Krabat stands beside them, crying. One of them is holding the cross. “Burn the hut.”, he says. His companion asks, “What about the boy?” The other answers, “We sell him, together with this.”, holding up the cross. His companion apparently takes pity on Krabat and replies in a softer voice, “We won't get a penny for him anyway.” Krabat darts forward, pulls the cross from out of the plague helper's hand and runs away, followed by shouts.

The screen shows us the title of the movie.

Captions tell us the following scene takes place five months later. We see the three kings, led by Baro, being chased off a farm, where they've apparently tried begging without success before, in pouring rain, with the farmer threatening to beat them up. Interestingly, the farmer as well as Baro speak with a strong Polish accent. The screen turns black.

In the next shot, everything is covered in snow. The kings, who now look even more disheveled than before, take refuge in the shed we know from the final cut. On the way, Baro throws away his crown. In their shelter, they sit huddled into their capes, shivering and shaking. Lobosch, troubled, asks, “What will become of us?” Baro suggests to join the Prince Elector's soldiers, who are in camp only two hours away, for there, they will get boots and as much food as they want. Lobosch comments that they're too young to enlist, but Baro is sure they take everyone, and that it will be better than kicking the bucket, after all. Krabat admonishes him, “Stop talking about dying! I want to live!” Then he takes the last of their food out, distributes it, and puts a blanket from their traveling bundle over Lobosch, who seems worst off, shaking with cold and exhaustion. Lobosch says, tentatively, “It will be alright as long as we stay together, won't it?” Krabat tries and fails to smile reassuringly at him. Lobosch continues, “I'll just eat half as much …” Baro snorts and comments, “Half of nothing – that's easy to share.” They huddle together to try and sleep.

Then Krabat has the dream we know from the final version of the movie, or rather, he hears the Master's voice, while his face and the ravens are not shown. In addition, the voice sounds different from that in the final cut.

(Side note: I'm sorry that Baro got cut almost completely. He seems like an interesting character.)

**2\. Extended animated version of the raven transformation.**

This is an alternative version to Krabat's first raven transformation. It starts in the Black Chamber with everyone undressing, then changes to the cliff – both of this, we know from the final cut. From the cliff on, the animation is only very rough. The main change is that this scene takes place in winter, with everything covered in snow.

Combined with missing scene three, flour fight, it becomes clear that the movie originally had Krabat promoted from apprentice to journeyman on Twelfth Night, just like in the book, and that his first raven transformation was to illustrate this second initiation. (First was the initiation into the Black School and the Secret Brotherhood. In the movie, it happens on Easter Night, with the introduction to the Black Chamber, the vigil, the pentagram, the vow to the Master and sweating the pentagram off again on Easter morning. In the book, it takes place in two parts: on Good Friday, with Krabat's first taste of magic by his first raven transformation and lesson in the Black School, as well as on Easter Night with his initiation into the brotherhood by the vigil, the pentagram, the vow and sweating the pentagram off again.) The flour fight then would, in fact, have been the “free-milling” of Krabat by the journeymen.

In the final version of the movie, Krabat's promotion happens sometime in the autumn of his first year. However, it's Tonda (as well as Merten) who vouches for him, which would have been impossible on Twelfth Night – by then, Tonda was already dead. In the book, it's Hanzo and Michal who vouch for Krabat.

**3\. Flour fight.**

The scene starts in the Black Chamber, with Krabat and Lyschko shaking hands, the Master entering the room and looking approvingly at the both of them – from another deleted scene I discussed in the Krabat-Lyschko arc already –, then telling everyone that the mill is working again.

In the next shot, we see Staschko and Kito hauling sacks of flour up the stairs to the attic. Andrusch enters the hall from the kitchen, with Juro visible in the background. Andrusch, laughing, tells Staschko and Kito, “Shush, he's coming.”, grabs a handful of flour, and moves quickly towards the attic. Juro enters the hall as well, takes note of the sacks, while Hanzo pushes hurriedly past him, and comments, “Oh no … If you do, I again have to …” Petar shuts him up, “Juro!”, and calls in Krabat's general direction, “Wow, 180 sacks of grain in one night … Blimey!” Merten pushes past him to run up the stairs. Krabat enters, with Petar making way for him, and sees the sacks, as well as Staschko lounging on the stairs, grinning, his arm around one of the sacks. Krabat asks, “What's all the flour doing here?” Merten grins at him, looking genuinely happy for once, and starts to throw flour at Krabat.

In the final version of the movie, the flour fight has nothing to do with Krabat's promotion and free-milling, even though it should, since it still happens on Twelfth Night. It's in reaction to the journeymen guiding Lobosch to the Koselbruch, and the mill working again. The accompanying music hints at the desperation behind the exhilaration. (In fact, I think the way they used the flour fight is great. To me, it's one of the strongest and most symbolic scenes of the movie – the exuberance of the journeymen, contrasted with the moving grinding mechanism of the mill, underscored by that melancholic and foreboding tune.)

As an aside, in the movie, Krabat shouldn't be surprised to see Lobosch lying on what was formerly Tonda's cot – he was amongst the ravens escorting him to the mill, after all.

**4\. Michal and the Master.**

In this scene, a little of the antagonism between Michal and the Master as established in the book shines through, if for different reasons. Also, it shows the Master actually working on new moon's night. If they go with the book, where he only takes part in work between Twelfth Night and Good Friday, before the initiation of the new apprentice, (or when one of the journeymen falls sick, for example as the result of, let's say, a suicide attempt …), it must be at the beginning of Krabat's second year.

The Master enters the grinding room with a sack of grain, apparently irritated. He passes the sack on to Lyschko, who looks at him quizzically. The Master moves around the corner and finds Michal, sitting on the floor, trying to rest his aching back. Michal, on seeing him, immediately stumbles to his feet, hits his head and tries to hurry back to work. For a moment, the Master bodily hinders him by stepping into his way and holding out his arm. When he finally lets Michal pass, it's accompanied by an annoyed sound and a forceful kick to his backside.

**5\. The invisible shadow.**

As Krabat is secretively on his way to Schwarzkollm, in winter, he suddenly notices footsteps following him in the snow. His invisible shadow whispers, “You think yourself very clever, but you're making the same mistake as Tonda.” “Lyschko, is that you?”, Krabat asks, nervous and taken aback. He doesn't realize the Master is nearing him in his sledge. “Down to the ground with you!”, mystery man commands, and promptly pulls Krabat off his feet. In reaction, Krabat jumps up, draws his knife, and aims it in the general direction of his opponent. Then, he sees the Master passing in his sledge at a distance, though the Miller doesn't seem to notice him, and, this time, throws himself to the ground of his own accord. “You have more luck than brains.”, the invisible one comments. “The next time around, be more careful.”

It's actually Juro who warns Krabat, but I realized this only with the director's commentary. Before, just like Krabat, I thought it was Lyschko. I find it interesting that Krabat seems fully prepared to knife (who he thinks is) Lyschko for following him around.

According to Kreuzpaintner, the scene had to go because they cut the whole “Lyschko routinely makes himself invisible” stuff, so Krabat's suspicion would make little sense. Personally, I still find it likely that Krabat would reflexively suspect it's Lyschko who spies on him, considering both Lyschko's reputation and their general animosity. Krabat also doesn't get that it's Juro though, since Juro has not yet revealed himself.

**6\. Schwarzkollm got destroyed.**

… because of Krabat's advice to the Prince Elector.

This is a very powerful scene. It also adds depth to both Krabat and the Master's characters … and spares the Master a crime he wasn't meant to commit. It's a pity it got cut.

The scene starts with Krabat flying into the Black Chamber, turning back to human. He's very agitated and calls for the Master. He nears the lattice that serves as a window to the Master's Chamber. “Master?”, he repeats. “Schwarzkollm … all in ashes.” He can't see the Master, but seems to sense his presence. After a pause, the Master replies, “I know.” We see him leaning against the wall, close to the lattice, but he never looks through it or even turns into Krabat's direction.

There's another pause. Then the Master continues, “What do we care, Krabat? You made the right decision.” The camera pans in on the Master's face. He looks worn out, as if he didn't sleep for nights, or drank a lot. His expression´is a strange mixture of cruelty and despair, and his face gets uglier and uglier the longer he talks. “Why me?”, Krabat asks, confused. The Master answers, “You advised the Prince Elector to continue the war. The fighting was expanded eastward.”

Krabat starts to cry and has to sit down on the floor. “But I didn't know …”, he sobs. The Master replies, “Every action has its consequences, Krabat. You did the right thing. Don't waste your thoughts on those miserable wretches (“Hungerleider”, in German). There's no place for weakness here. We all have blood on our hands.” Softer, almost whispering, with his focus turned inward, he adds, “All things have a price.”, looking pained as he does so.

Then we see Krabat sitting in the shed, still crying. End of scene. (They used this shot after the scene where he tried to run away.)

(Gruesome fact: David Kross is perfect at crying on command. Unfortunately, if he cries really hard, snots starts running out of his nose in amounts the director has never before seen. Therefore, they had to cut most of his crying.)

The scene as a whole shows that, in reaction to leaving out everything concerning Dresden, the Prince Elector and the allure of influencing the high and mighty, they drastically changed the plot and made the Master into more of a villain than they originally intended to. In the final cut, he himself destroys Schwarzkollm on Krabat's second Easter, apparently killing some of the Kantorka's loved ones in the process – we see her put flowers on a fresh grave later on. And he does it solely to spite Krabat and his girl … In contrast, in the original version, the burning of Schwarzkollm is actually Krabat's responsibility. Consequentially, the scene is called “Krabat's guilt” on the DVD.

**7\. Krabat tries to destroy the coffin.**

In the final cut, Krabat gets his death sentence handed by the Master, goes to the shed to fetch a shovel, sees the coffin waiting there, gets scared, runs into the chicken shed to unearth his cross and then returns, fortified, to fetch the tool. Next, we see shots of him digging his grave, interspersed with shots of Juro working in the kitchen.

Originally, it was different. Krabat has the cross already when he goes into the shed to hack the coffin to smithereens in a bout of anger – he knew the thing was there, he had watched Merten unload it from the Goodman's carriage (deleted scene). But just like in the dream sequence in the book, the coffin magically repairs itself, only now in reality. Consequentially, Krabat fetches a shovel, and goes to dig his grave.

If you look closely at the final cut, Krabat already has the cross when he enters the shed, although they show him digging it up moments later – you can see the string around his neck, but not the cross itself.

Aside: It looks like David Kross, who plays Krabat, never before wielded an ax. I was more than a little worried for him.

Fun fact: The cross had been buried in the inhabited chicken shed for weeks and was covered in excrement. Kreuzpaintner says he has no idea how David Kross could bring himself to kiss it. Poor, brave David, prepared to sacrifice for his art …

Not-so-fun fact: The chickens had to live under the conditions you see in the movie, as well as the other animals, as far as I can tell – none of the stables looked inviting to me, and the chicken shed and the cows in particular were appallingly dirty. And no, cows don't enjoy living in their excrement, and neither do chickens.

**8\. The ring is gone.**

First, we see what we know from the final cut: shots of Krabat on the Barren Plain, interspersed with shots of Juro in the kitchen. While Krabat is out, digging his grave, Juro goes up to the attic, in order to fetch and destroy the ring, just like he promised. But when he looks for it in its hiding place, he realizes with a shock it is gone – someone must have taken it.

When Krabat returns to the house, the Master is waiting for him on the first floor, where his rooms are situated. We see him looking down on Krabat, asking quietly, “Are all tasks finished?” Krabat replies, subdued, “Everything is done.” – “Good. Then go and join the others. I have to go on a journey, and will return only in the next year.”

The door to the house opens seemingly of its own accord, and starts to move with the wind. Krabat makes as if to go towards it, saying, “Master, the door …” Angrily, the Master shouts at him, “Do it!” (meaning: go up to the attic!). Apparently, the door has to stay open for the Goodman … Krabat looks first at the Master, then at the door, and then follows the order. We see him enter the attic through the trap door before the screen turns black.

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What do those scenes add to the movie? For one, they make Krabat's background even more dramatic by illustrating how traumatizing the death of his mother must have been, and by how hard his life as a beggar was (as opposed to in the book, where the three kings were happy and well-fed by the local population). They also make it more pronounced that leaving Baro and, particularly, Lobosch in that situation might have cost them their lives. The allure of the power magic grants the Master and his scholars shines through, as well as its repercussions, when Krabat is confronted with the results of his warmongering advice to the Prince Elector. The destruction of Schwarzkollm by marauding soldiers instead of by the Master sort of redeems the latter – to destroy a whole village just to spite Krabat and his girl seemed … uh … a little harsh. The Master appears to be a very broken character in this scene, bitter, vengeful, but also sad and desperate. The alternative raven transformation and the flour fight show that the movie makers originally tried to stick more to the structure of the book by having Krabat promoted on Twelfth Night, and by also depicting his free-milling by his fellow journeymen.

  



	7. Changes To Characters

**7** **.** **Changes To Characters**

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I covered some of this in the deleted scenes part already, mainly where Lyschko, Merten, Tonda and Lobosch are concerned. So on to the rest of the cast …

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**1\. Michal**

Movie-Michal is an interesting character. In my opinion, he remains as strong a personality as in the book, even though he has to stand aside to make room for Merten. He's confident and assertive enough to order both Lyschko and Hanzo around (when they free the mill wheel from ice in one of the deleted scenes), and also to try and comfort Tonda when they find Worschula's corpse. According to Merten, Michal has spent more than twelve years on the mill. (The book states Tonda was on the mill longest, followed by Juro, which doesn't mean all three of them couldn't have been there for longer than twelve years, but it seems unlikely to me.) Michal is presented with an aching back he didn't have in the original version of the story.

**2\. Hanzo**

In my eyes, for the movie, Hanzo's character gets changed beyond recognition. If you ever wondered why he's giving off decidedly evil vibes, it's because the movie makers intended him to be a mean, heartless bastard. As mentioned above, they actually filmed a scene that had him push past Krabat when they find Tonda's dead body, and state that the sole thing he's feeling is the cold. (By the way, in the movie, the Master decides who's to become senior journeyman, while in the book – and in real life – he's elected by the journeymen as a whole. So Book-Hanzo would never have gotten this position without a majority of his peers thinking he was the one best suited for it.)

**3\. Andrusch**

Andrusch, who's a good-natured and universally liked joker in the book, gets turned into a nasty, almost sadistic bully – just watch his face after he, incidentally or not, hurts Krabat during Easter Morning's work, or the way he shoves him on his very first day on the mill, at the breakfast table. There's also the deleted scene of Krabat's second Easter, where Andrusch keeps piling sacks of grain onto Lobosch after he already collapsed under the first one. In addition, there's his threat to give Krabat a second cut when Krabat, to everyone's annoyance, decorates the servant's room for New Year's. (Incidentally, he decorates the room for Christmas in the book, which makes much more sense. In Germany, you don't decorate with hemlock and pine cones for New Year's, but for Christmas, you do.)

**4\. Kito**

Kito, who's routinely bad tempered in the book, seems to be quite the funny guy in the movie, starting with his upside-down introduction to Krabat, and not ending with his playing a comical Moor on Easter. He also seems to be close friends with Kubo and Petar.

**5\. Kubo**

Kubo … uh … has a hamster. The poor thing looks pretty stressed to me – the rodent, that is, though Kubo seems to be troubled and cowed just as well. He also doesn't appear to be that intelligent.

**6\. Petar**

Petar doesn't have much to say in the book, but at least he has his spoons to carve. For the movie, they made him into a flat-out idiot, evident for instance in his demented reaction to Krabat declaring his hatred for the Master, right into the Master's face, after Merten tried to hang himself. He is often shown with a vacant look on his face, too.

**7\. Juro**

In the book, Juro appears to be dumb, in the movie, he seems to be disabled. I liked his rather forceful, spectacular reveal – it's one of Juro's strongest scenes, I think, apart from the one where he agrees to destroy the ring –, even though Krabat would have looked smarter if he had found him out on his own. I found Movie-Juro to be quite close to the original.

**8\. Staschko**

The movie attributes Staschko with some rather disgusting habits he didn't have in the book, namely with constantly picking his nose, even at the table. Sadly, it shows little of his universal craftsmanship. His plans for a new mill wheel are treated like a joke by most of his fellows, while in the book, the Master actually assigns him with building it. I would have loved to see the “Radhub”, the installing of the new mill wheel, especially combined with the Master's storytelling about Jirko.

**9\. Krabat**

Krabat gets a more tragic background for the movie, which consequentially limits his ability to choose. Unlike in the book, he was close to starving and freezing to death when begging, so the mill with its abundance of food and shelter holds much appeal to him. His opposition to the Master, once he decides to go against him, is less covert, since he's less self-controlled in the movie in general. This culminates in him shouting at the Master, “I hate you!” after the Miller abused Merten – and his men in general – for trying and failing to kill himself. Krabat is also more willing to quite literally extend a hand towards Lyschko, though that mostly takes place in the deleted scenes.

**10\. The Master**

Sadly, they left out all of the Master's background, his tragic friendship with Jirko included. His relationship to Lyschko gets steered towards slash territory, at least in my eyes. Hints are Lyschko's reaction to the slap under the yoke, the way the Master hand-feeds him in the summer scene, and his devastation when the Miller decides to have Krabat accompany him to Dresden, to name but a few. The way the Master constantly touches Krabat at every chance he gets seems to point in the same direction. Take the first yoke scene, for instance, or the way he circles Krabat just after he agreed to the apprenticeship.

Right from the start, the Master seems more human and softer than in the book, for example, when he leads Krabat up to the attic and explains about life on the mill. In addition, he often gives reasons for his actions, including his ambivalent feelings on some of them. In the case of Merten's suicide attempt, for instance, he shows him and the journeymen not only his disdain, but also how he's trapped in the pact (and maybe in himself as well): “Do you think I enjoy this?! You're of no use to me when dead!” As an aside, this scene also gives us a little more information about the pact as interpreted by the movie makers. Merten tries to kill himself on the last day of the year. The Master cannot permit this, for it apparently has to be the Goodman himself who fetches the journeyman. If Merten would have been successful, the Master would have had to choose a new victim, and two of his men would have died.

**11\. The Kantorka**

… mostly eludes me. In the original version, she seems unreal throughout, even when she and Krabat finally meet, and especially when she frees him – but Krabat is in shock then, so that shouldn't come as a surprise. To me, she's most real when he watches her feeding chickens. In the movie, she's more earthly, more profane right from the start. As a result, the love the two of them share loses much of its magic – I elaborate in the following chapter.


	8. Changes To Main Themes And Motives

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**1\. Love**

The way they changed the love between Krabat and the Kantorka really bothers me. In the book, he falls in love with her voice in his first year. In his second year, he meets her in the flame of her Easter candle, then sees her in passing without talking to her. Only in his third year does he reveal himself. Even then, they just – sparsely – talk, and sometimes meet each other in dreams, but don't even kiss. In the movie, Krabat meets her face to face in his first Easter Night, and on his second, we see them hug and kiss.

In the book, the love between Krabat and the Kantorka isn't romantic love. The Kantorka is more of an embodiment of love and less of a person. Krabat knows next to nothing about her when he falls in love with her voice. When he hears her singing, he hears the voice of love. This is no ordinary love between two teenagers. The movie drags it down to an everyday level, but an average (and usually short-lived) teenage love would never have had the power to break the magical pact between the Goodman, the Miller, and their journeymen.

**2\. Magic is might**

In the book, it's the Master who initiates Krabat into magic, by turning him into a raven on the night of his first Good Friday on the mill. In the movie, it's Tonda, after he marked Krabat with the pentagram on Easter Night. They have an out-of-body experience together, visiting the girls of Schwarzkollm.

The movie makes Black Magic explicitly “the one true religion”, to use the words of the Master, at least where his views are concerned. He even spells out that his men are to stay away from all worldly things, women included, as well as from “the cross”, to not weaken themselves. In the book, he shrouds everything in secrets, and his opposition to Christian religion is never stated outright.

In the book, the main fascination magic holds for Krabat is power – power over others, the high and mighty included. This becomes especially clear in the Dresden chapter, but is emphasized several times throughout. I don't think we see any of this reflected in the movie. In the deleted Dresden scene, Krabat is fascinated by his adventures at court, but how the Master has the Prince Elector eating out of his hand isn't even mentioned. In Krabat's first summer, the narrator tells us that he, by means of magic, wants to be above ordinary people, but not that he wants to have power over them.


	9. Historical, Biological And Geographical Inaccuracy, As Well As A Certain Untimeliness

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**1\. Historical Inaccuracy**

I have to admit that, as a historian, I might be especially sensitive for anachronisms. Others would probably cut the movie makers more slack.

Preußler deliberately set his story against the background of the Great Nordic War, at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The folk tale has Krabat live at the times of the Thirty Years' War, at least half a century before Preußler's story takes place, and the movie makers decided to place their Krabat there as well. So far, so good.

**Clothes and hygiene**

But, why, oh why, didn't they use the historical research available to, lets say, find out what kind of clothes mill hands wore, back then? The clothes' designer informs us in the behind-the-scenes that she looked at the works of Rembrandt and other Flemish painters to see how rural folks dressed in Krabat's time. Really? Did it never cross her mind that what people wore back then differed from region to region, even from town to town, and also depended on their trade and craft? A farmer from the Netherlands on a Rembrandt painting is not representative for what a mill hand would wear in the Lausitz at the end of the Thirty Years' War. Don't get me wrong, I love the costumes, they look great. That's just not a very reliable method of doing historical research.

Also, Preußler describes at least part of their clothing, if not the exact look. He mentions they wear boots in winter when they cut wood, for instance (and probably when it's muddy and raining just as well). Still, the poor actors had to endure Romanian winter in those flimsy leather shoes, with mud running in and freezing around their feet, as Robert Stadlober tells us in an interview included in the extras.

The director actually comments that those “medieval clothes” – he insists at least three times in the commentary that the story takes place in medieval times, while it's actually early modern times, no matter if set against the background of the Thirty Years' or the Great Nordic War! – were no “thermal clothing”, “keine Wärmekleidung”. Has he never heard of wool? For that's what people wore in winter, both in medieval and early modern times. Wool felt is very nearly waterproof and keeps you warm and dry even in extreme cold. Also, Preußler mentions fur caps, and writes that Krabat feels very comfortable in his winter clothes, so comfortable “that a young bear couldn't have been feeling better”. Unlike to what Kreuzpaintner seems to think – and what made his actors freeze in Romanian temperatures –, both Preußler's characters and real people in early modern times were not constantly cold in winter, unless they were very poor. And unlike the actors, the mill hands in the book don't wear the same clothes and shoes all around the year.

Also, nightclothes … In the movie, the journeymen have no nightshirts, but sleep in the shirts they wear for work. That must feel great, with all the sweat, dirt and flour dust gathered in the fabric … It's also historically inaccurate. Europeans, at least most of them, did wear nightclothes in early modern times – and I daresay the Master could have afforded to provide them for his men.

In the movie, there's also the misconception that people back then did hardly ever wash, and where therefore always grimy. Preußler never mentions such a thing, and actually shows Krabat (as well as some of the others) washing at the well several times, even in winter. There _was_ a time when people in Middle Europe thought bathing was hazardous to one's health, but that had already passed.

Related side note: A bunch of wizards in training surely would have found a way to dry that swamp in front of the mill. If not by magic, cobblestones might have done the trick just as well. “Medieval” people were not stupid, you know – not stupider than your average contemporary guy or girl, that is.

**Food**

Then there's the issue of food. Preußler describes what they usually eat, and that's mostly gruel, bread and some vegetables, which is historically correct. The Pumphutt story is especially enlightening: he enumerates what's assumed decent food for mill hands, and that includes meat only twice a week. The one occasion roast is mentioned is when they install the new mill wheel. The Miller eats ham and meat, but, well, he's the Master …

Just imagine how many pigs they would have to keep and slaughter if they all – twelve fully grown men and a teenaged apprentice! – ate meat on a regular basis. Also, the usual time for slaughtering was late autumn or early winter, when fodder for the livestock got sparse. Preußler mentions at the very beginning of the book that some farmers had slaughtered a pig for Christmas.

In consequence, it's kind of irritating to me to see them constantly eat meat in the movie: sausages on the table, bacon as a gift from the Master to Lyschko, a pig's head and pig's feet on the day they find Worschula's corpse, a dead and cut-open roe in the foreground during a scene between Krabat and Juro …

As for the roe: It was never mentioned in the book that the Master goes hunting, and he wouldn't have been allowed to on penalty of death, even on his own land – hunting was a privilege of nobility, and they took it very ill if anyone else killed so much as a hare. By the way, those dead rabbits we see hanging in the kitchen alongside the roe are an anachronism, too. In those times, there were no wild rabbits on German territory, apart from some colonies established on islands for hunting purposes. Domesticated rabbits were only kept at a couple of monasteries – in huge enclosures, not in tiny stables like today.

(Aside: In case anyone wondered, all the dead animals in the movie are real – which is much more of a bother to me than any anachronism could be. They killed sentient beings to use them as mere props, and, apart from the fact that they easily could have used fakes _if they had cared enough_ , it isn't even justified by trying to be “historically accurate”, for it just isn't. Hanno Koffler, who plays Juro, actually got into a serious fight with the director because Kreuzpaintner wanted him to skin a rabbit (for the scene where Juro and Krabat argue in the kitchen, near the end of the movie). Koffler refused. Kreuzpaintner was pissed, but Koffler won.)

**Beware the fire and the light**

They have a lot of candles and oil-lamps burning in the house, and usually a blazing fire going in the hearth. For instance, on Krabat's first morning on the mill, there are at least half a dozen candles on the tables, as well as additional oil-lamps on the walls of both the servant's room and the corridor, even though it's already light outside and the fire is burning. In those time, candles were expensive, so people usually ate (and worked) in the glow of the fire and, if it was light outside, the light coming in through the windows (usually small and few, for glass was expensive as well – in the movie, they adhere to this, and also cover some of the windows with hide instead of glass). I won't even talk about the abundance of candles and torches in the Black Chamber, or the chandelier in the Master's Chamber … It makes for nice lighting, but still. Also, open fire (candles and oil-lamps) in the attic, under a roof made from straw or reed, is not recommendable. In the book, they use lanterns, which are safer.

**2\. Biological And Geographical Inaccuracy, As Well As Certain Untimeliness**

The calls you hear from the ravens are actually crows' calls. Because … I just don't know.

Romania, where they filmed most of the movie, is not the Lausitz, nor does it look anything like it. Nor do the Alps, where they filmed Tonda's burial, look anything like the Barren Plain in the book. The Mill is situated in the (existing) Koselbruch near the (existing) village of Schwarzkollm, in what was then a moderately hilly, woodsy, swampy region. The Barren Plain is described as an open space near the moor, roughly the size of a barn. We see nothing of this in the movie.

(Aside: In the beginning, they actually planned to film at Schwarzkollm, but in the end, they decided on Romania – much to the disappointment of the local population of the Lausitz. The people of Schwarzkollm got some of the movie props after filming wrapped, at least, to include them into their new Krabat mill.)

“Tomorrow, you have to get up very early …”, says the Master to Krabat on his very first night at the mill. The next morning, we see the journeymen rise when it's already light outside – at that time of the year, in Germany, the sun rises at approximately half past eight in the morning.

The Kantorka arrives in the middle of the night, but they flee the mill in broad daylight roughly a quarter of an hour later. That, at least, should have been noticed as a glaring continuity error by the film team.

 


	10. What I Like About The Movie – And Why The Director Dislikes It, As A Whole. Also, A Kind Of Conclusion.

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**1\. What I like about the movie**

If you got the impression that I dislike the movie, that's actually not the case. It's more that I'm, as aquila_black put it, disappointed about missed opportunities, and about flaws that could easily have been avoided or remedied.

I like the entire look of the movie, the coloring, the lighting. I enjoy the costumes, even though they're not historically accurate, and I love the mill, both the building and the interior – the aged, worn look, the furniture, the ornaments –, even though they changed the architecture from what was established in the book. Also, I like most of the score, the much criticized end credit song included.

Most important, I think the cast is truly _great_ , both in bringing life to their individual characters and as a whole – they really fit together, compliment each other and make each other shine. The movie expands on some of their roles, especially Lyschko's, and puts a spin on some of the characters' relationships to each other. Part of it actually adds to the story, at least in my eyes. Notable examples are the hinted-at sexual (and maybe romantic?) relationship Lyschko and the Master share, as well as the dynamics between Krabat and Lyschko, though most of the latter take place in the deleted scenes.

**2\. Why Marco Kreuzpaintner himself doesn't like his movie**

The director's commentary mainly elaborates on everything that went wrong during filming, the mistakes left in the movie, like continuity errors or bad editing, and the things Kreuzpaintner thinks, in retrospect, should have been done completely differently – which are quite a few. He criticizes and ridicules, from Krabat's makeup to the Romanian reenactment group that arrived on set with wooden swords and modern horse gear – and was promptly filmed thus. Kreuzpaintner goes so far as to say that he would never again make a movie like “Krabat”, and that it's his least personal one.

From what I gathered, many of the problems stemmed from Kreuzpaintner seriously underestimating how difficult and expensive it would be to switch between outdoor and studio shots and between different locations – in different countries, no less –, which demanded they repeatedly rebuilt a certain scenery, reconstruct the exact lighting, etc. For instance, they built the Barren Plain three times in three different locations, but used only one of them, up in the Alps, when they made additional shots long after the actual filming had wrapped. That's why you don't see Lyschko at Tonda's burial – Robert Stadlober was not available –, and why Juro looks so thin in the face – Hanno Koffler was already back to his usual weight.

Personally, I think most of the bad choices Kreuzpaintner complains about could easily have been avoided, or at least been corrected in post production. I'm irritated by the fact that he rants on and on about everything that went wrong, without ever explaining _why they didn't try to fix it_. For instance, the issue with Krabat's beard. If everyone thought it looked ridiculous even while filming, why didn't they go for another look? It seems they didn't even care enough to try a different make-up. 

There are many other examples, like Krabat's very bluish lips when he arrives at the mill. Kreuzpaintner says they really went over the top there – he calls it “Krabat's blueberry lips”. Well, why didn't they change it, then? It looks like Krabat has a serious disease, not like he's freezing.

Or the attack on Schwarzkollm. I didn't think much about the filming technique they used, I wasn't as bothered by it as many movie goers apparently were. Yet, when I hear Kreuzpaintner explain how it came to be, and that it's really a cover-up for yet another couple of things that went wrong, I feel the impulse to tear my hair out.

They ordered a Romanian reenactment group, but the people who turned up were non-professional hobbyists with wooden swords and modern saddle blankets on their horses. “We had to CGI the wooden swords into real-looking ones”, Kreuzpaintner says, “and I think we didn't quite manage – ah, looky, there's still one left.” (Quoted from memory.) I mean … that's just … uh … If you look closely, preferably in slow motion, you actually see wooden swords more than once.

Additionally, they never choreographed the fight, and filmed it in just one day. The Romanian reenactors showed up, and the movie people subsequently decided on the spot what the scene should look like – as it seems, without ever training anyone in how to use their swords and sticks. So that wasn't only badly planned, but also potentially dangerous for both men and horses.

(An aside of importance: Since the Romanians were non-professionals, I highly doubt that “no animals were mistreated or harmed” during the making of that scene. The chestnut horse that goes down is clearly not willing to do so. It is obviously in pain as it is forced to fall by its rider brutally pulling at its reins – a horse that opens its mouth like that is always signaling pain. I think it's the same horse that can be seen lying on its side in the behind-the-scenes, with its handler commanding it to stay put while Kreuzpaintner walks over its behind and _belly_ with his shoes on. You can do a lot of nonsense with a well-trained horse without harming it, but treading on its kidneys and ribs is not amongst them! Shame on you for thinking this is fun, Mr Kreuzpaintner!)

Kreuzpaintner is no fan of extensive CGI, and didn't enjoy filming many of the scenes in front of a greenscreen or in the bluebox. That was a foreseeable inconvenience, I daresay – although it could be argued that a film like Krabat could have been made with less CGI if the movie makers had set their focus differently. The attack on Schwarzkollm, for instance, adds nothing to the story, and those magic sticks would probably be missed by no one if they weren't there. Instead, I would have liked to see them sell Andrusch as an ox, or have fun with the soldiers, or build and install the new mill wheel. Some of the Master's storytelling about Jirko and a visit by Pumphutt would have been nice, too.

In essence, I have to agree with Mr Kreuzpaintner that he has made better movies than Krabat, and am glad that he decided to return to what he's good at. I immensely enjoyed “Summer Storm”, for instance, and wish him all the best with his more traditional movie projects, far away from all the CGI and the fantasy genre.

**3\. Conclusion**

The movie definitely has its merits. I like the look, the atmosphere, and, especially, the cast. I'm sure everyone involved put a lot of love and effort in. Yet, I think it could have been better if its makers had paid more attention to the book, and planned the filming more careful in advance. A little advice from a historian firm in the time period and culture the story is set against couldn't have hurt either. Still, the movie brought me into the Krabat fandom, and for that, I'm immensely grateful.


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